Top 10 Players @ Each Position

Mine are based off of circumstance, though some of it has to do with just who I feel is straight up a better player than others. Consistency plays a big factor, while it is hard for me to take injury into account (This goes for Centers in particular). So, here are mine, I do not at all mind comments, debate or lists of your own.

PG (Most radical change from last year)

1. Deron Williams

2. Chris Paul

3. Derrick Rose

4. Rajon Rondo

5. Russell Westbrook

6. Chauncey Billups

7. Steve Nash (Age, and defense)

8. Tony Parker

9. Tyreke Evans (Who I feel is more of an SG, but he plays PG for now)

10. John Wall (This kid is playing out of his mind, and while I think Stephen Curry may indeed be better right now, I have a feeling Wall will skyrocket up this list)

SG

1. Kobe Bryant

2. Dwyane Wade

3. Brandon Roy (The ankle is a concern, but when healthy there is no question he is right behind the first two)

4. Manu Ginobili

5. Joe Johnson

6. Monta Ellis

7. Andre Iguodala

8. Ray Allen

9. Stephen Jackson

10. OJ Mayo (Over Vince Carter, who I just think is a shadow of his former self)

SF

1. LeBron James

2. Kevin Durant

3. Carmelo Anthony

4. Paul Pierce

5. Danny Granger

6. Rudy Gay

7. Gerald Wallace

8. Ron Artest

9. Caron Butler

10. Luol Deng (When he is healthy, he is a very tough match-up)

PF

1. Pau Gasol (This year he is head and shoulders above anyone else at PF)

2. Dirk Nowitzki

3. Tim Duncan

4. Amare Stoudemire

5. Chris Bosh (He is not off to a great start, but I still feel he is one of the best at the position, though he will have to prove it, tough to rank him above the next guy)

6. Kevin Garnett

7. Carlos Boozer

8. Josh Smith

9. Paul Millsap (Playing out of his mind right now, will be interesting to see how he maintains it)

10. Luis Scola (Another one doing the same thing, but I feel these last two guys have made huge strides in their games. Lamar Odom could indeed be ranked ahead of either of them, but his circumstance I feel will prevent him from doing so over the course of the season. Blake Griffin is also one to watch)

C

1. Dwight Howard

2. Yao Ming (Though if he keeps playing so few minutes, it will be hard to justify him being this high)

3. David Lee (Could be considered a PF, but he seems to have been a very solid undersized C)

4. Andrew Bogut

5. Brook Lopez

5. Al Jefferson

6. Andrew Bynum (When healthy I would take him above many listed above him, but he does have serious injury concerns)

7. Al Horford

8. Marc Gasol

9. Joakim Noah

10. Andrea Bargnani (He is better offensively than about everyone on this list, but his defense and rebounding make it impossible to justify having above them. He should not be playing Center, he is definitely a PF)

Just from scouting out these positions, PG and PF are by far the most loaded while SG, SF and C have huge gaps in their rankings. PF in particular is a completely stacked position, full of players who in the past would have definitely played C. That is kind of how the NBA has become, and I for one would love to see a return to rugged inside post play on behalf of the number of athletic PF's in this league. It was tough to make this list, so much has changed over the past few years, the league has gone in such a different direction. I left off players I had ranked incredibly high in the past, and I have left off a few I think could indeed gain a lot of ground once they start coming into their own or get some more playing time. Nonetheless, while I am sure there will be a lot of arguments about "How could you rank so and so ahead of so and so" and "How could you leave off such and such", I urge you that if you have comments such as these, please make your own list and show where you rank players. You will see how difficult it is to leave certain players off and where to rank them in accordance to each other. Good luck and I hope to see a lot of other rankings as well.

i think the players are probably correct but the order of some is off to me a bit. for example, manu above joe johnson. to me johnson is the better player by a decent margin, especially with some of the other guys on the list(or off) that are declining. manu is declining and is not better than jj.

doubtful wall will be top 3 by next year. Team success has quite a bit to do with that and I don't see wall surpassing the likes of rondo and rose while their teams are chasing a ring. He just isn't that polished yet. But in 3 years that could be another story..

Wall can be a top 3 point guard next season..I wouldnt not put him ahead of CP3 or D-Will just yet..But the way he attacks the basket,his scoring prowness and passing skills have him on an elite level....When he improves his shot i'll move him ahead of D-Will..But CP3 does the things that have him the top point guard in the nba....

Duncan made the all nba 1st team as a rookie..And right away was considered 1 of the power forwards in the game..Some guys are just special...

See, to me it is a matter of circumstance. I do think Joe Johnson might indeed be a better player than Manu, but I feel Manu is so much more efficient and dangerous than JJ. He plays with wreckless abandon, something that you can not say about Joe all of the time. I have a hard time rating guy like Joe over Manu, because to me Joe has not really exceeded expectations, whereas year in and year out, Manu seems to kill it for a solid Spurs team. To me, if Manu actually was in a similar situation to Joe Johnson, he could excel into one of the better scorers in the league. I know it was 6 years ago, but the guy led Argentina to a gold medal, and I do not feel like he has passed his prime. If Joe Johnson makes the Hawks a serious contender in the East, than by all means he passes Manu. But until than, he might be ahead of him by a slight margin, but the bottom line is, I would rather have a player like Ginobili. That is why I put him 4. But, I do respect your opinion, and I would like to see your rankings. A lot goes into these things for me, and everyone has their own seperate criteria.

While I agree that Wall seems to be a special player, I too question him being in the top 3 by next year. Top 5 possibly, but Top 3 again may have to wait a while. Your point on Duncan is definitely valid, but as unpronouncable ridiculous user name pointed out, team success does play a part in it. The fact that Timmy was playing on a team that had gotten back a healthy David Robinson did not at all hurt the fact that he was even seen as a PF, not to mention it lead to team success. If Timmy had been taken by a poor team, he might not have been a 1st Team All-NBA player. Also, do you really think Wall is in the class with Tim Duncan? That is super high praise, though I think you were just using it to make a point. To me though, it will be hard for Wall to crack the top 3 as I believe Williams, Paul and Rose will have it on lock, with Rondo and Westbrook very close as well. Wall will be close, but again it will be as soon as his team becomes competitive. Rose after all has played on a team that has been a bottom play-off seed, but the fact he lead that team there and produced in the play-offs has not hurt his case. Wall is already the leader of his team, but I have a feeling that team might be a year or two removed from making the play-off's, which makes it hard to see Wall being considered a top 3 PG. But I agree with you that he has potential to be a very highly ranked player in this league and has been as impressive if not more impressive than any PG we have seen enter the league in their first few games.

I feel that OJ Mayo is the better player, and it has nothing to do with Eric Gordon's size Tezo. I just have thought for quite a while that OJ Mayo was a better player than Eric Gordon, even when I did not want to believe it in college. Eric Gordon has been playing really well this year, and I did not make honorable mentions, the only reason I mentioned Vince Carter was because at a time, he was one of the better 2 guards in the league. As I said, if you have a problem with someone not being on the list, make your own list because I would like to know how other people rank players. Roy Hibbert has also been playing really well folks, I know he is, but I want to see both of them sustain it before putting them above some other players. I have really high regard for Eric Gordon man, I just honestly feel like OJ Mayo is the better player right now. Gordon has gotten off to a better start this year, but I just feel that OJ is a better defender and his shooting stroke seems to be more true. Gordon is shooting a very high percentage from the field right now (47, solid) much better than OJ's 41, but OJ is shooting a 43.5% clip from 3 compared to EG shooting 17%. They are incredibly close, and obviously team USA did think Eric Gordon was the better of the two, and I have no problem with that decision. I just know that from what I have seen of the two, I consider OJ Mayo a better player than Eric Gordon.

It could be a bias, but I doubt it, as I actually like Eric Gordon as a player more than Mayo, but I can not say I feel he is better yet. I mean, Indiana Basketball, liking a guy better who played Indiana Basketball? No, wouldn't think of it. Come on man, am I that predictable? I have my reasons gentleman, sorry for leaving off a Hoosier and a Pacer. I am not anti-Indiana, it was just my opinion and as the NBA changes, I guess my opinion will as well. If the NBA has taught me anything, just because a player as ranked at a certain spot, it does not necessarily means they will win their match-up every night. These are the players I feel will on most nights, and I would like to see your list as well. I realize I left off Okafor, who has definitely played like a top 10 C so far, but we are quite early into the season, so we will see how it stacks up. But, if you wanted me to make a list of who the top 10 players at each position according to the first 3 weeks, than both Gordon and Hibbert make the list.

Bargnani is such a liability and displays so many areas of concern on the floor when played at the C position that it is extremely unfair to rank him even as a top 15 C in the league. C's are supposed to do C things, not play like Gaurds. Other then his shot blocking which is actaully quite impresive Bargnani doesnt display consistant C traits. His rebounding is not quite a strength or size issue, it is an awareness issue and a feel issue. He just doesnt put himself in the right position or anticipate rebounds correctly. His post defense is average although sometimes it seems he is off on a different planet daydreaming and he just falls asleep. When Bargnani displays great effort and is on his toes for rebounds he is definitely a top 10 C, but consistancy is the key to success in the nBA and Andrea just doesnt bring that qaulity.

Monta #6? Id love to hear the explanation there, hes playing way better than Roy , Manu and Joe J and hes winning and how is DWill better than CP3? Rose>Rondo? Hell no. Bargnani offensively is just a shooter, cant rebound or play defense. Id rather have Troy Murphy , Andrea is like a bigger Radmonovic

PG

1. CP3

2. Rondo

3. DWill

4. Rose

5. Russell Westbrook

6. Wall

7. Curry

8. Nash

9. Tyreke Evans

10. Miller

SG

1. Kobe Bryant

2. Dwyane Wade

3. Ellis

4. Roy

5. Joe Johnson

6. Manu

7. Andre Iguodala

8. Ray Allen

9. Stephen Jackson

10. Gordon

SF

1. LeBron James

2. Kevin Durant

3. Carmelo Anthony

4. Paul Pierce

5. Danny Granger

6. Rudy Gay

7. Gerald Wallace

8. Ron Artest

9. Caron Butler

10. Luol Deng

PF

1. Pau Gasol (This year he is head and shoulders above anyone else at PF)

First off, I hate this CAPTCHA or whatever it is. I had a long response about my reason for putting Monta Ellis at 6. But, look at what I wrote previously. I would rather have everyone ranked ahead of him on my team as an SG. Yes, I do not like small back courts, because the last time one won a championship was with the Pistons, when they had a team full of rugged defenders and who crashed the boards. Chewy, I did not base my rankings off of completely what has happened thus far this season, and where would you rank Joakim? Consistency to me is over a long haul, and if I recall last year Monta was scoring even more than he was now. The difference now of course is that he is winning, but all of those players ahead of him are proven All-Stars on play-off teams. Joakim Noah could maybe be ranked ahead of Gasol, but I have a hard time saying he is better than Al Horford, and when healthy I would much rather have Andrew Bynum. So, that was my reasoning for those rankings, thank you to Nateoak for making his list. Have also liked the other lists, they are good stuff. I am always thinking about my rankings, and it is hard to stay loyal to these lists as players are always changing. But what I will say, is that if Monta and Noah keep it up, they more than likely will be a lot higher on my list next time around. But, as I have seen thus far, the highest Noah has been on a list has been 8. Monta on the other hand, I definitely have lower than most, but for now, I will stand by it, because it is how I feel.

But again, what player ranked ahead of him in the Centers is not a double double machine (when healthy). But, as I said, you do have a great case if Joakim keeps his rebounding steady (which seems likely) and his scoring up (?). Also, I will point out, that Joakim Noah is forever Greg Oden's bi-otch. I still rag on how much Greg killed him in their match-up last year, but, Joakim is healthy, which is something we unfortunately can not say about Greg.

these centers are all out of whack....consider that Noah is about to start a run of all-defensive team streak this year too.....he is an elite defender when guys like Bynum like to loaf ass on d....and Yao, Bogut, Bynum are all notorious for missing massive chunks of seasons.....idk htf Yao can be put at number 2 still....that's just retarded imo....

Yao Ming, WHEN HEALTHY, was easily the next best Center to Dwight Howard. Even in limited minutes, the guy is freaking unstoppable when matched up against anyone. I know they are all notorious for being hurt, but Centers are probably the most difficult to rank, because you have to take so many things into account, including injuries. Bynum is not as big of a liability as you claim man, the guy has a freaking 7'7 wing span, it messes with people. When he is healthy, he is incredibly difficult to defend, and creates major problems for other teams. As I said, you can criticize all you want, but why not make a list yourself? It is not easy, and maybe I think that Yao Ming could return to his days of being the most unstoppable offensive Center in the league. It does not look like it right now, but you never know. It is incredibly hard for me to rank people ahead of Yao when I know that when they are actually on the court at the same time, Yao is still whupping their @ss. Now, say that is retarded all you want, but it is true.

Andrew Bogut= Double Double machine but with only one lackluster playoff experience (8 pts and 6 rebs) Maybe Brandon can change that for him as the Bucks look like a solid playoff team. Can see someone thinking he's better than Noah.

Andrew Bynum= Has never averaged more than 8 rebs in any season and his best playoff year was 8 pts and 7 rebs. Maybe the talent at LAL takes away from his numbers, but if i'm punishing Bogut for NOT making the playoffs then you have to punish Bynum for defering to his teammates (ex: letting Odom or Gasol get those 50/50 rebounds where eithier of them can get it). He is all potential/hype at this point and not on Noah's level.

Marc Gasol= only one year with 15 pts and 9 rebs. No playoffs. No chance is he better than Noah.

Dwight Howard= Better than Noah. Didnt even bother looking at stats.

Brook Lopez= averaged 18 pts and 9 rebs last year, but it constantly in the coversation of "Who is the worst defending big man" so no I wouldn't put him ahead of Noah.

Al Jefferson= Multiple double double years. One weak playoff with BOS where he had 6 and 6. His numbers are similair and has the potential to breakout w/ points in any game. D-Will will make him better too. I think Noah's defense makes him better, but with this yr on the Jazz he could make me look stupid for saying so.

Yao= When healthy is better, BUT he will NEVER be healthy again so moot point.

Sometimes I am very bias to Chicago, so it was fun to take a real look at the other top bigs in the league. I have Noah at number 2 at center (bias remember) but I think he should not fall below number 6 (including Yao) on anyones list

Yeah he needs to improve his rebounding, he has a great turnaround j, but when he goes to his post moves i hold my breath.

I think his d is underrated though, he was doing a great job on Kevin Durant, he has the length, and quickness to almost shut him down, i loved that matchup, when he played him he only allowed one bucket, i also feel very comfertable when hes guarding point guards (except for a few).

Being just "close to the top ten" isn't good enough for a player with his talent, length, fluidity and athleticism. I've been waiting on him to take his game up to All-Star level for two-three seasons now.

There was a lot of talk about how he'd gotten bigger this summer, but he's still shooting fadeaway jumpshots. He's never going to be the banger or low post presence that the Blazers need and I think he's more of a third option than a second.